Defence industries - Working together to Support Europe's Defence

The European defence industry makes a major contribution to the security and defence of European citizens. The key objective of the European Commission's defence industrial policy is to develop an innovative and competitive European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Such an EDTIB is an important prerequisite for an effective Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) which is designed to provide the EU with the capacity for autonomous action in order to respond to international crises, without prejudice to actions by NATO. A competitive EDTIB is also required to provide Europe with affordability and the ability to cooperate internationally in the development and production of defence equipment.

The European Commission adopted, on 24th July 2013, a Communication that sets out a series of proposals to strengthen the Internal Market for defence and support the competitiveness of the European defence industry.

On 20 December 2013 the European Council adopted Conclusions on a range of issues including the CSDP which took account of the Commission's Communication on defence.

A High Level Conference took place on 4 March 2014 to present the Commission's ideas on implementing the Communication in the light of the European Council Conclusions, and gather reactions and new ideas from stakeholders.

On 24 June 2014 the Commission adopted a Report which sets out an implementation roadmap for the July 2013 Communication.